The evaluation of professional competencies based on the analysis of textual CVs is a challenging endeavor, particularly when a large amount of profiles have to be examined. As a result, identifying potential candidates for a given job or project role may be a costly and time consuming process. Besides, people use different criteria to describe their experiences and to measure the competencies acquired, and this results in no assurance that the best person is being selected. This article presents a contribution aimed to synthesize the description and standardize the assessment of professional expertise described within traditional CVs. An integrated collective intelligence approach is presented which is composed by a methodology, an algorithm and a software tool, aimed to produce graphical and comparable skill charts which can speed up the selection process in global-scale recruitment campaigns, large corporate or project management scenarios, with relevant impact in the areas of professional social networking.

The paper aims to present a collaborative and distributed model of a decision support system (DSS) as tool for the governance of an urban context according to the principles of an Intelligent City. The proposed model is centered and inspired to the open innovation (Chesbrough, 2006), user-driven innovation (Prahalad et al., 2008; Prandelli et al., 2008), and collective intelligence (Kim, et al., 2011; Atlee et al., 2006). In this perspective, the proposed model highlights the crucial role played by Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) as emerging structures for the smart configuration of a city (Komninos, 2011, 2008). By concentrating the analysis and the discussion on the collaborative and distributed governance of intelligent cities, the proposed study offers: - an integrative perspective of intelligent city based on a review of the main issues related to, with a specific attention to the governance processes; - a holistic view and a collaborative and distributed decision making model for city governance, which gives much more relevance to knowledge assets of the community of stakeholders rather than to the physical infrastructures.

In the last two decades, knowledge management has evolved through a number of different research fields and practitioner contexts. A recent development is represented by the concept of collective intelligence, as a new collaboration and socialization paradigm, thus including a relevant knowledge management component, aimed to find better solutions to human problems and societal challenges. Collective intelligence research aims to extend the methods and application fields of collective intelligence. The current world economic crisis is relevant socio-economic and cultural problem and it can be assumed to be an interesting field of analysis and a research context for experimenting approaches and systems leveraging collective intelligence. In such scenario, this paper presents a conceptual model of collective intelligence aimed to enhance the potential of a community to realize technology-based innovation and entrepreneurship processes, thus supporting the growth of regions and organizations. Based on a literature review and initial expert validation, a design science approach has been applied to define a new model and prototypal technology/service solutions aimed to enhance the creation and development of technology entrepreneurship initiatives. The main constituents of the model and the core services are presented along with a discussion of their role in entrepreneurship dynamics. A preliminary demonstration of the operationalization of the model is provided through illustrative scenarios focused on competence development and business development processes. The validation of the model and the service architecture has been preliminary done qualitatively based on domain experts whereas empirical validation represents the objective of future studies. The work can have implications at theory level, in terms of further development of the collective intelligence concept, and at practitioner level, with the proposal of a socio-technical system addressing a new generation of solutions and customer-driven services. The research was developed in the frame of a research project aimed to develop successful technology entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial processes for the economic growth, productivity and employment, and thus for the competitiveness of countries and regional systems. In particular, entrepreneurship based on science and technology seems to be very effective for this ambitious goal. The development of entrepreneurial attitudes in engineers and scientists requires a significant change of the higher education systems, that have to integrate education and research, to design and experiment sustainable innovation processes and practices. Framed in these premises, and on the basis of a real case, the paper aims to investigate which principles, actors and processes should characterize the operational model of a higher education system to develop an entrepreneurial mindset in engineers.

Digital technologies have enabled the emergence of a new breed of business ventures and introduced the concept of digital entrepreneurship as a transformative trend in the study of entrepreneurial processes and their outcomes. In particular, open innovation and collective intelligence have contributed to create a new techno-organizational system - or ecosystem - in which entrepreneurial activities are conceived and conducted. However, despite the significance of the phenomenon, the idea and archetype of Digital Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (DEE) is still largely undertheorized. In particular, there is a need to build a comprehensive definition and define the modalities required to successfully design and govern such kind of ecosystem. This article propose a conceptual breakdown of digital entrepreneurship ecosystem with the purpose to identify the founding constructs and elaborate a definition and the foundations of a management approach. A governance model is defined which includes four key dimensions (how, what, why, how) and six fundamental processes. An illustrative application of the model is finally presented to describe a case of DEE.

Purpose – This paper aims at proposing a performance measurement system (PMS) for technology-intensive academic entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach – The PMS has been developed through action research carried out within an Italian higher education and research centre, on the basis of the literature background and interviews. Findings – The study presents a new PMS based on an Input-Output model for technology-intensive academic entrepreneurship. As a result, a multidimensional framework for measuring entrepreneurship is proposed together with a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess the “third mission” of universities. The application of the framework allows to demonstrate its validity in a public setting. Practical implications – This study contributes to the extant literature on performance measurement of entrepreneurship process within research and higher education institutes, that is traditionally focused at the firm level. From a practitioner perspective, the model can be used both by universities which are interested in measuring their entrepreneurial capital, and by other stakeholders which are interested in evaluating the value generation performances of universities. Originality/value – The PMS is developed according to a process-oriented perspective of the academic entrepreneurship by identifying, for each step, a set of KPIs to meet the information needs of different stakeholders. The proposed PMS allows monitoring each phase of the technology entrepreneurship and managing the results in terms of social and economic impact developed.

Project management is a relevant area of competencies and skills for engineering students, although conceptual development may be ineffective if it is not properly integrated with real cases and simulations. In such perspective, this article presents a two-year experience made within undergraduate engineering curricula. Based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge as conceptual model, the training process was driven by a simulated case of project execution upon which the knowledge acquisition and competence development activities were associated. Whereas the instructor has assumed to be the project manager, sub-groups of the class were selected to act in the role of “responsible” of each of the ten project knowledge areas, i.e. scope, time, cost, stakeholder, etc.. The core of the module was thus a simulated execution of processes belonging to the different areas, with a collective discussion of the core issues, inputs, outputs and tools. The instructor has thus worked to define the overall context of the role-role playing session and to integrate the different contributions into a systemic view. The article describes the core model and the learning process developed and discusses the implications at both theoretical and practitioner level, with guidelines to design effective project management training sessions within university and executive education programs.

Although many universities and corporations invest on relevant resources in virtual learning programs, methods and tools for evaluating their success have not been consolidated. This article conducts an extensive literature review and identifies the measures of effectiveness of virtual learning programs and their influencing factors. The key contribution of this study is the proposed systemic model that can be operationally used to measure the effectiveness of virtual learning programs. The model identifies the determinants of effectiveness, namely, ‘Learner Performance’ and ‘Learner Satisfaction and Confidence’, and the factors that influence significantly them. The model has been cross-checked by a panel of field experts and validated through factor and regression analyses involving a sample of university students. Lastly, the model is operationalized using a tool that guides HR managers and practitioners in assessing the effectiveness of their virtual learning programs.

Purpose – This article defines the foundation of a new organizational, process and service paradigm aimed to support the smart growth of territories through more performing technology entrepreneurship initiatives enabled by a collective intelligence approach. Design/methodology/approach – An extended literature analysis has been addressed to define the main components of the model, i.e. Entrepreneurial Actor, Innovative Entrepreneurial Project, Technology Entrepreneurship Roadmap, and Technology Entrepreneurship Ecosystem. The area of technology entrepreneurship processes and the approach and tools of collective intelligence are hybridized, also using expert validation, with the final perspective to introduce an “eGosystem” model. Originality/value – The article introduces the core design elements for the creation of collaborative technology ecosystems which are glocal and context-independent (using ICT and virtuality), specific (tailored to technology domains) and dynamic (phase and time-dependent). The eGosystem adopts a “push” logic to build proactively around the entrepreneur a system of information, resources, knowledge assets, educational experiences, services, competencies and relations needed to successful stay on the market. Practical implications – The entrepreneurship eGosystem model can be the basis upon which to build more effective tech-entrepreneurship processes and promote smart growth of regions and territories, as well as to create the foundation of integrated approaches to human capital creation in the technology entrepreneurship domain.

The recognized importance of entrepreneurship as a driver of socio-economic value, along with disruptive advances in nano, bio, info and cogno technology domains, have increased the world demand of technology-based entrepreneurial ventures or “technology entrepreneurship”. In this endeavour, engineering education can play a crucial role in the development of professionals able to proactively identify and pursuit market opportunities driven by discoveries in science and technology. There is thus a need to create effective entrepreneurial higher education systems which develop innovation-oriented competencies and skills through hands-on and experiential approaches and a synergy among academic and industry stakeholders. Our experience is aimed to infuse the essence of entrepreneurship in engineering professionals with the ultimate goal to develop the next-generation profile of entrepreneurial engineer.

Entrepreneurship is a catalyst for economic growth and national competitiveness. Succeeding in the Sustainable Knowledge Society (SKS) is based on the development of a new archetype of human able to identify and develop new ideas, exploiting technology-based opportunities, in order to create economic and social value. Such new profile has been defined as entrepreneurial engineer (EE). However, the development of EE requires radical innovations that cannot be confined to the traditional education system. This article, relying on the discussion of the preliminary results of a high-tech district case study, addresses the role of an Entrepreneurship ecosystem as intermediary to facilitate public-private partnerships in research and education, with the ultimate purpose to instill entrepreneurial attitudes in engineers, so fostering innovation and technological entrepreneurship in a local context.

The rising of the knowledge economy, enhanced by the fast diffusion of ICTs, drives a wider perspective on the divide among countries, interpreting it more and more as the result of an asymmetry in the access to knowledge and in the readiness to apply it in order to renew the basics of their development dynamics. Looking at the Mediterranean Area, the positive correlation between the Networked Readiness Index and the Global Competitive Index indicates that the opposite sides of the Mediterranean Sea are performing a development path at two different paces. To support the creation of Intellectual Capital able to apply, diffuse and benefit from e-business, the e-Business Management Section (eBMS) of Scuola Superiore ISUFI – University of Salento launched in 2005 the Mediterranean School of e-Business Management. In this chapter we offer a presentation of its genesis, the most distinctive features, operational model and action plan. The preliminary results of its activities show the role and the main challenges of the School in addressing the needs of the Mediterranean Countries towards a logic of partnership for the development of their intellectual assets.

This paper aims to propose a new organizational, process and service paradigm aimed to enhance the performance of technology entrepreneurship initiatives through the adoption of collective intelligence methods

The concept of ecosystem has been largely used to indicate the network of complementary actors, resources and relationships required to succeed in knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial initiatives. The development of ecosystems has been mostly considered as a region and industry-independent issue. This paper discusses the relevance of fostering the creation of more entrepreneur-centric ecosystems ("EGO-Systems") to support an effective idea-to-venture process. A model is presented which includes five components (entrepreneurial actor, stakeholders, project, roadmap, flows) and it is addressed to support technology entrepreneurship initiatives through an innovative approach which is glocal, project-specific and dynamic.

Purpose – “Are our region’s achievements in technology-driven entrepreneurship (TdE) productive of growth?”; “How are regional achievements in TdE emerging, and what forces propel or hinder TdE in our regional contest?”. Answering to these questions within a Learning Region requires an assessment effort based on openness, which includes several sources of information and viewpoints, and cooperation of stakeholders and experts. At this purpose, this paper aims to present a prototype of a “Knowledge Hub” focused on the evaluation of innovative early-stage startups. We focus on the architecture of the Knowledge Hub, its founding principles, the evaluation criteria, as well as the main results achieved after its preliminary application in evaluating 36 innovative startups who won a contest in the Apulia region (Italy) from 2008 onward. Design/methodology/approach – The Hub leverages on crowdsourcing and collective intelligence from experts and professionals sharing information and discussing viewpoints about technology startups, with the aim to evaluate their performance. The crowdsourcing dimension refers to the data sources (typology and ownership) used to perform the evaluation of a given startup, whereas the collective intelligence mechanisms inspire the evaluation method. Originality/value – When talking about technology startups, our national and regional experience today shows that “hypes” dominate over evidence-based information. Refusing transplanted approaches and imitated policies means also promoting reflexivity and evidence-based new knowledge. Practical implications – The adoption of Knowledge Hub’s processes and methodology for monitoring the impact of innovative startups, and the active involvement of actors and stakeholders in the Technology Startup Ecosystem, may support a continuing assessment of TdE to improve the quality of regional strategies and programmes designed for the development and growth of specific territories. Evidence from the preliminary analyses shows peaks of dissimilarity between common sense powered by conventional media and actual outcomes,so suggesting the need for a more realistic approach in policy making for regional development.

Continuous monitoring of learners’ satisfaction (LS) is a key activity for designing effective and successful collaborative learning experiences. Grounded on constructivism and connectivism learning theories, modern ICT platforms allow students performing collaboratively many online tasks, generating large data sets on their interactions. This creates the opportunity to leverage the emerging Big Data paradigm to setup a “non-intrusive” evaluation strategy of online courses that integrates explicit and implicit knowledge. Indeed, the application of Big Data in the collaborative learning domain is a recent explored research area with limited applications, and may have a significant role in the future of higher education. By adopting the design science methodology, this paper presents and discusses the application of an innovative system that relies on Big Data techniques to measure in real-time, both in progress and at the end, the level of LS of online courses. The research contributes to investigate new methods and approaches to measure LS in online collaborative systems by using the Big Data paradigm. The result presented can provide mentors and learning managers with the knowledge and tool for monitoring in progress and at the end the individual learning experience, thus allowing them to intervene effectively along the entire learning process.

This paper presents an experimentation, realized within an International Master's, aimed to develop in tomorrow's engineers the entrepreneurial capabilities required to develop technology-intensive products and services in the domain of e-business. The new professional profile of the Entrepreneurial Engineer is introduced, along with the innovative features of an "i-learning" environment which supports the development of such profile. The interdisciplinarity, interactivity, immediacy, internetworking and individualization aspects of the environment are discussed with a particular focus on the curriculum design and the action learning strategy applied in the program.

Purpose – In the last years, many researchers have recognized the importance of adopting innovative business model to stay competitive in dynamic business environment (Amit and Zott, 2010; Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002; Teece, 2010). Although the importance of business model innovation affects all the economic activities, this is particularly true for some industries more involved to face the acceleration of the pace of change, the relevance of value networking, the greater availability of knowledge, the increasing growth and role of new competitive players: it is the case of the technology-intensive industries. In fact, in the last decade, in business scenario changing and under an high competitive pressure, technology-intensive organizations are revisiting and expanding their traditional borders and modalities to do business, trying to re-think their value propositions and to integrate more effectively new products and services, customers segmentation, places and channels, partnerships, competences and cost-reduction needs. According to this great relevance, this paper aims to analyze more-in-depth the notion of Business Model (BM) and Business Model Innovation (BMI) and then to set the scene for understanding the state-of-the-art about the orientation, perceptions and adoption of innovative business models as lever that supports new entrepreneurship, performance improvement and sustainability by a sample of companies operating in specific technology-intensive industries. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the relevant literature – both at academic and practitioner level – has been carried on the notion of BM and BMI. Then, a case-study methodology has been adopted. Specifically, the analysis of three Italian spin-offs operating in the ICT industries let to draw some first information and insights about their orientation, elaboration and implementation about BM and BMI. Originality/value – This paper provides a new interpretive framework to identify the orientation and the managerial issues about BM and BMI of a specific sample of technology-intensive companies such as spin-offs operating in the ICT industries.

Wicked problems are complex and multifaceted issues that have no single solution, and are perceived by different stakeholders through contrasting views. Examples in the social context include climate change, poverty, energy production, sanitation, sustainable cities, pollution and homeland security. Extant research has been addressed to support open discussion and collaborative decision making in wicked scenarios, but complexities derive from the difficulty to leverage multiple contributions, coming from both experts and non-experts, through a structured approach. In such view, we present a conceptual framework for the study of wicked problem solving as a complex and multi-stakeholder process. Afterwards, we describe an integrated system of tools and associated operational guidelines aimed to support collective problem analysis and solution design. The main value of the article is to highlight the relevance of collective approaches in the endeavor of wicked problem resolution, and to provide an integrated framework of activities, actors and purposeful tools.

In the context of the e-Business Management Section (eBMS) of the Scuola Superiore ISUFI at University of Salento (Italy), the case of the International Master in e-Business Management (IMeBM) is discussed here which is aimed to contribute pragmatically to create e-Business Capabilities in Mediterranean Countries. This chapter presents the results obtained in the Laboratory Phase of the first two years of Master’s editions, i.e. 2006 and 2007 editions. This phase has been designed on blended (on-line and off-line) learning experience. Specifically, it has been structured by mixing the delivery of some Web learning courseware with face-to-face meetings with mentors and e-Business experts. The technological platform designed, developed and adopted for the Web learning activities is called the “Virtual eBMS” that represents the collaborative learning environment of the Mediterranean School. The pedagogical approach adopted by the School, named (“Learning-in-Action”) together with some considerations on the effectiveness and the implications of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) strategy are also deliberated upon. It also presents how the whole case of the International Master in e-Business Management generated intellectual capital assets, described in terms of Human Capital (competences developed in the e-Business context), Social Capital (networks and cooperation with local institutions and companies) and Structural Capital (research projects).

Purpose – Understanding and monitoring the learners’ satisfaction become key activities for designing effective and successful learning experiences. Sentiment analysis of informal discussions and streams of messages exchanged within forums and blogs, together with the clustering of formal feedback provided by the learners on their learning experiences are two fundamental knowledge sources for designing an integrated evaluation strategy of online courses. Indeed, merging the “sentiment” of learners measured along the entire course with the main evidences extracted from clustering the feedback that learners provide at the end of the course, can suggest new ways to improve the overall learning experience. Design/methodology/approach – A design science approach has been adopted to conceptualize and define the components of the model and the prototype. Design science supports a pragmatic research paradigm that calls for the creation of innovative prototypes and the experimentation of innovative solutions. The phases of problem identification, objectives definition, artifact development, solution demonstration, evaluation, and research communication have been realized accordingly. Originality/value – This paper explores the application of Big Data to the e-learning domain. Specifically, the study presents the design and the implementation of a prototypalmonitoring of learners’ satisfaction within an online course. The paper highlights an approach that generates value from unstructured data stored in the LMS, processing learners interactions in the social space (e.g. forum) during the course, together with the key topics raising from the answers they provide to questionnaire filled in at the end of the course. Practical implications – The outcomes of this work can provide practical insights to design more successful learning experiences, which rely on the usage of a learning management system. Indeed, by using real time analytics tools and clustering techniques, the prototype has been developed can provide mentors and learning managers with the knowledge to monitor in progress and at the end the individual learning experience, thus offering the opportunity to intervene efficiently and effectively.

Purpose - The process of generating the strategic renewal or new ventures within established companies, also known as corporate entrepreneurship, is strongly intertwined with individual and organizational factors. Whereas many studies have been conducted in developed economies, the role of such determinants and their reciprocal relations are still partially undisclosed or contradictory in emerging countries. In such endeavor, this article builds an integrative framework of corporate entrepreneurship enablers and uses such model to identify a set of research propositions to be investigated in Chinese companies. Design/methodology/approach – The article is grounded on a multidisciplinary literature review in the fields of innovation management and organizational behavior. In particular, the study is accomplished through five main steps, i.e. search of relevant theory, isolation of corporate entrepreneurship constructs, creation of constructs taxonomy, preliminary research model and propositions formulation, and contextualization of research propositions to the Chinese context. Findings – The performance of the corporate entrepreneurship process depends on a set of individual factors, distinguished into professional and psychological characteristics, and organizational factors, which include the system of values (mindset) of the organization as well as “hard” aspects related to management practices and processes. All these factors can be considered as enabling conditions to drive the valorization of creativity and human resource potential within corporate renewal and new venturing initiatives. Research limitations/implications – Though this article represents a step forward in integrating individual-related and organizational-related determinants of entrepreneurial performance in Chinese companies, the supposed relationships are to be proven through empirical analysis, which is definitely the next necessary step towards the validation and actionability of the research model and propositions identified. Originality/value – The value added by the paper is twofold. From a theoretical point of view, it develops a systemic framework of conditions which can positively impact corporate entrepreneurship and applies the same model to launch new avenues for research in Chinese companies. From a practitioner perspective, the study provides managers with a comprehensive set of enabling factors to support corporate entrepreneurship by leveraging creative and human resource management dynamics within their organization.

The concept of entrepreneurship is traditionally associated with the initiative of individuals who transform promising business ideas into successful new ventures. In the Schumpeterian view, the most innovative individuals are able to drive sustainable change and creative destruction in specific markets and industries, acting alone or within large companies (Schumpeter, 1934, 1949). However, the entrepreneurial process is also engaged in by established organizations, which are able to address the asymmetries between market demand and the potential of socio-technical innovation. At such an extended scale (from individuals to corporations), corporate entrepreneurship is activated as a means of achieving organizational innovation and increasing financial and market performance, with exemplary cases such as Apple, 3M, Procter & Gamble and Google. More specifically, corporate entrepreneurship represents the process of new business creation within established firms to improve organizational profitability and competitive position, or the strategic renewal of existing business (Zahra, 1991). It thus includes the creation and development of new business ventures, new products or services, or new strategies and competitive stances. Therefore, it becomes a key driver of organizational innovation, business performance and market leadership for organizations operating in technology-intensive industries. The focus on technology-based firms is timely and particularly relevant for corporate entrepreneurship. Indeed, the presence of innovative technologies and their market-relevant applications is a trigger for the creation of new products and services, as well as of the new business ventures that produce and commercialize them. The multidimensional nature of corporate entrepreneurship and its complexity in terms of enabling factors has generated the motivation for research to investigate and systematize such elements within an integrative perspective and model. In just such an endeavour, this chapter aims to identify the antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship at both the individual and organizational levels. In particular, the focus is on technology-based firms. For this purpose, this chapter is structured as follows: the next section reports some evolutionary patterns in the corporate entrepreneurship concept and its enablers. The concept of creativity is then analysed together with its relationship with organizational innovativeness, the role of human resource management as a driver of creativity and organizational innovativeness. The model and related assessment tool to be used in the corporate context are then introduced. Concluding remarks summarize the contributions of this work to theory and practice and reflect on planned and likely developments for further research.

Purpose – Corporate entrepreneurship is an articulated process that originates from creative ideas of managers and employees and ends up in generating innovative results such as new business units and ventures. It is thus a key driver of strategic renewal and business performance for organizations, which need to valorize the creativity of individuals and teams (the internal “crowd”). This article introduces the concept of crowd-venturing as an application of collective intelligence principles in the corporate context. A set of individual and organizational factors supporting the entrepreneurial potential of human resources is defined and used to build a tool for assessing the maturity of crowd-venturing within companies. A classification of organizational archetypes is also proposed. Design/methodology/approach – The study starts from a review of corporate entrepreneurship and organizational creativity literature, with a cross-domain investigation of related areas such as human resource management and collective intelligence. The work of theory review is a basis to define an integrated assessment tool that has been applied in preliminary studies conducted in three big ICT companies. Originality/value – The research proposes a systemic model for the exploration of drivers of corporate creativity and entrepreneurial dynamics. The concept of crowd-venturing is defined, along with an assessment tool useful to evaluate the maturity level of both individual and organizational factors respect to the internal entrepreneurial process. The study can be conceived as a new application of collective intelligence principles in organization-related issues. Practical implications – The article provides managers with a method and an operating tool for assessing the internal entrepreneurship environment and the corporate venturing process. The in-company application of the tool can open new avenues for developing methodologies addressed to activate entrepreneurial dynamics within organizations.

Sustainable mobility is today a central theme in the strategic agenda of policy-makers, public managers, and global institutions (e.g. World Bank Committee for Sustainable Development). A sustainable mobility system (SMS) is a socio-technical system which ensures the mobility right within, outside and among cities, without impacting negatively the society in terms of externalities such as atmospheric and acoustic pollution, traffic congestion and accidents. The problem is strongly interdisciplinary and domains like urban planning, engineering, architecture, computer science, economics and business management, operations research and service engineering can contribute to define effective and innovative solutions. A SMS enables persons, ideas and knowledge to move effectively, resulting in a more “intelligent” model of city which enhances the creativity, learning and innovation potential of its citizens. The adoption of a collective intelligence approach to design and realize a sustainable mobility system ensures that social value and individual interests are preserved. At this purpose, this paper provides a holistic framework to support the design of a SMS, and an operational roadmap with a set of guidelines for supporting the implementation in policy decision making settings.

According to the Open Innovation approach, collaborative relationships between cultural and creative organisations and business are consistently growing in the last few years. This paper first develops a typology of these relationships. Then, adopting a multiple case-study research method and using a selected sample of Italian manufacturing and services companies, these kinds of collaborative relationships are empirically investigated. Motivations, practices as well as factors enabling or hampering these collaborative relationships are identified and analyzed.

This special issue of International Journal of Strategic Change Management is devoted to analyse and discuss different perspectives of sustainable innovation and change management in services and manufacturing industries.

It is widely recognized that knowledge management (KM) can provide an organization with the capability to understand customers' needs, effectively extract new ideas from suppliers and customers alike, and turn them into innovative products and services. Human resource management (HRM) plays an equal, if not more important, role in building and sharing the right set of employee competencies that help organizations to successfully compete. In many organizations, HR executives and KM experts have found that developing an IT infrastructure that allows the free exchange of employee experience and expertise has increased the company's competitiveness. Many companies are now aware that timely capturing their employees’ collec-tive knowledge is the only way to preserve their investments in human capital. As a result, some of them have invested to develop a corporate culture of sharing knowledge and experience, capable of convincing employees to share their expertise. However, how to enable synergy between KM and HRM to foster open innovation is still a relatively new is-sue. Traditionally, innovation has been seen as the responsibility of a R&D team or of a business unit. Re-cent experience has shown that innovation is largely dependent on creative individuals working in an envi-ronment that spans multiple organizations and includes, beyond regular employees, consultants and suppli-ers. Knowledge-supported HR can play a key role in attracting and keeping the most innovative people and partners, creating a culture that supports innovation. This objective of this special issue is twofold. The first goal is to provide a forum to discuss theoretical mod-els and practical evidence on the effectiveness of knowledge-supported human resource (HR) management. The second goal is to investigate the connection between the implementation of knowledge-supported HR and the degree of open and employee-driven innovation achieved by organizations.

Crowdfunding represents a crowdsourcing strategy for collecting from a large audience the financial resources required to launch an entrepreneurial project. It leverages on the power and wisdom of the crowd to identify, select and fund promising entrepreneurial projects. Regardless of its typology (equity, donation, lending or reward), crowdfunding provides a valuable support to sustain innovative ideas and projects, mainly at early-stage, thus contributing to diffuse the entrepreneurial culture worldwide. In particular, equity crowdfunding offers to investors the opportunity to participate actively to the development of an entrepreneurial project. For what concerns the Italian situation, a recent study highlighted three main issues hindering the development of the equity crowdfunding: the relationships with investors, the information asymmetries, and the project reliability. To face these issues, a wide set of norms and laws has been introduced to mitigate the risk and guarantee security and trust. Framed in these premises, this paper aims at reaching a twofold goal: 1) develop a deeper understanding of the equity crowdfunding scenario in Italy, also by analysing all the entrepreneurial projects submitted to the Italian equity crowdfunding platforms within February 2015; 2) collect and analyse the entrepreneurs’ insights and other existing issues, thus making some suggestions for improving the Italian equity crowdfunding system. The results of this study might be useful for policy makers in charge to manage the Italian regulation on crowdfunding, as well as to sensitize potential entrepreneurs in using crowdfunding to finance their startups or to support the arising of innovation and entrepreneurship within their companies. Finally, also private investors and financial operators can be interested in this study to evaluate if entering in this emerging business.

This chapter aims at shaping possible directions along with imagining the development and the evolution of the “i-Learning” paradigm. Specifically, three interdependent classes of future trends are depicted: technology-related trends and organization-related trends. In technology-related trends, it is analyzed the strong contribution that emergent technologies can provide to innovate learning processes. In particular, Mobile Learning Environments (MLE) and 3D Learning Environments (3DLE) are described with more details. Moreover, it is analyzed also the role of the Future Internet framework (promoted by the EU in the VII Framework Programme) into the learning industry. Finally, innovative Personal Learning Environment (PLE) and Cloud Computing spaces are presented and discussed. Referring to the organization-related trends, the model of the Stakeholder University is presented, discussed and analyzed. It is introduced as a new framework supporting competence development processes in twenty-first century, as an evolution of the traditional Training Departments, e-Learning Platforms and Corporate University archetypes.

Purpose: The generation of new ventures within established companies, also known as corporate entrepreneurship (CE), is a process influenced by a set of individual and organizational factors. This paper aims to focus on creativity and human resource management enablers of CE, with the purpose to define an integrative framework and draw a set of related research propositions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper relies on a multidisciplinary literature review in the fields of CE, creativity and organizational innovation. Findings: The effectiveness of CE depends on a set of individual factors, distinguished into professional and psychological characteristics, and organizational factors, which include the system of values of the organization and the management practices applied in the same. Research limitations/implications: From a theoretical point of view, the paper develops an integrative framework of conditions that impact on CE and outlines a set of propositions and alternative research methods to test. Practical/implications: From a practitioner perspective, the study provides managers with a comprehensive set of factors enabling CE by leveraging the creativity of individuals and make it flourish through consistent human resource management practices. Originality/value: The value of the paper stays in the integration of individual-related and organizational-related determinants of entrepreneurial performance.

Il patrimonio culturale rappresenta un fattore di indiscussa rilevanza per l’attrattiva di un sistema turistico. Tale rilevanza dipende, tuttavia, dalla capacità che l’insieme degli attori del territorio dimostrano nella sua valorizzazione al fine di attrarre flussi turistici e soddisfare esigenze di profitto ed occupazione. Diviene prioritario, pertanto, comprendere quale sia il livello di conoscenza, di collaborazione, di cooperazione che caratterizza gli attori del territorio, ed in particolar modo gli operatori del settore culturale, in un contesto di ecosistema territoriale innovativo e collaborativo. Obiettivo del lavoro è stato quello di comprendere in che modo i beni culturali contribuiscono a qualificare l’offerta culturale, quali modelli di business e strategie di sviluppo vengono attuate dagli operatori per la promozione e valorizzazione dei beni culturali, quali sono le nuove idee di sviluppo che percepiscono come potenziali strategie. Le informazioni sono state raccolte realizzando un focus group con operatori che, a Lecce, operano in ambito culturale. La metodologia di indagine utilizzata parte dal presupposto per cui l’identità, la cultura, la professionalità ed i propositi degli operatori si evincono dal linguaggio utilizzato durante la discussione. Gli elementi chiave individuati per lo sviluppo di un sistema turistico innovativo sono: coinvolgimento dal basso dei residenti; professionalità, abnegazione e senso di responsabilità degli operatori; attivazione di progettualità finalizzate alla valorizzazione del patrimonio.

The first aim is to show how governments support the creation and development of Communities of Innovation (CoI) in two different institutional settings, namely Puglia Region and Guangdong Province, highlighting both the differences and similarities in the implementation of such policies. The second objective is to measure the effort of governments in implementing policies for innovation. The overall aim is to shed light on whether, and if so, to what extent the “public hand” may be desirable for the development of CoI. Through a comparative study of Puglia and Guangdong, we first explore the innovation programs implemented by each government in the attempt of identifying those explicitly designed or having as an effect the promotion of CoI. We analyse characteristics, recipients, and objectives of the programs and highlight differences and similarities. The analysis of these programs brings us to the selection of indicators measuring the efforts made by governments for the promotion of innovation policies. We use these indicators for the computation of composite indices measuring the intensity of policies and compare the two areas in terms of public policy efforts for innovation. Considering two regions that greatly differ in terms of economy, and political and social background, we show whether and how local governments are involved in the promotion of innovation and in particular of CoI. Furthermore, we contribute to the debate that focuses on understanding the extent to which the involvement of the governments in the promotion of innovation produces desirable results. Finally, from a practical perspective, this work offers a critical analysis of a number of policy levers for the promotion of investments and initiatives aimed at creating favourable conditions for the flourishing of formal and informal CoI. The outcomes of the work gives strength to the idea that in the last few years innovation has become the main objective of governments, and CoI are one of the privileged mechanisms to achieve this objective. The comparison of Puglia and Guangdong, taken as two diametrically opposed examples in terms of institutional setting, may lead to uncover similar roles and uses of public interventions in the establishment and development of CoI. The demonstration of consistencies between the two areas in the implementation of policies would contribute to the more general industrial policy debate heralding the importance of public policies in favour of innovation, even in places where industrial policies are not clearly institutionalized.

The paper aims to discuss the role of intangible assets in higher education and research institutions and presents a measurement framework, along with an illustrative application. A review of existing theories and practical experiences is undertaken to build the core conceptual model and a dashboard of indicators. The model is then applied to investigate the mission and performance angles of intellectual capital with reference to an Italian higher education and research institution. Creating intangible assets is at the core of the mission of education and research organizations. The identification and measurement of intellectual capital is thus an operational priority to evaluate the alignment between strategic orientation and performance within such institutions. The research has to be considered as exploratory and presents a single case, resulting in the need for further applications. However, the dashboard of metrics proposed is comprehensive and can thus represent a useful ground for refinements, mostly related to the links between indicators and management/strategy issues. The dashboard can be used as a stakeholder communication tool and a “tableau de bord” to support the strategic decisions related to the human, social and structural capital of education and research organizations. The article presents a first discussion on the systematic identification, classification and reporting of intellectual capital indicators in higher education and research.

This paper aims to discuss the importance of Living Labs as an effective mechanism that can support the creation of dynamic innovation ecosystems and networks. The analysis of literature related to regional innovation and based on the Quadruple Helix framework, is integrated with exploratory research analysis of 20 cases of Italian Living Labs. The field study is realized through a web-based content analysis and questionnaires. The paper contributes to study how the Living Lab can constitute an effective mechanism supporting the creation of dynamic innovation ecosystems and networks, in the final aim to explore its relevance for setting regional strategies for smart growth, which valorize the internal and external knowledge assets. The paper provides important implications, both at research and policy levels, related with the knowledge-based innovation processes that could be activated at territorial level.

The analysis of traditional CVs to evaluate professional competencies can be a challenging endeavour, particularly when a large amount of candidates has to be examined. The main reason is due to people that use different terms and criteria to describe and measure their experiences. This makes the selection for a given job or project role a time-consuming process, with no assurance that the best person is selected. This article presents an integrated methodology to standardise the assessment and visualise the professional expertise of individuals. A set of classifications, an algorithm and the core elements of an info-graphics tool are presented with the purpose to provide comparable competence measures and charts that can speed up the pre-screening and selection processes in large-scale recruitment campaigns or project management scenarios.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial processes for economic growth and regions' competitiveness. A key element to succeed in the entrepreneurial economy is the development of a new archetype of human capital, the 'entrepreneurial engineer', who is capable to match technology innovation with business challenges and societal development, assuring economical, technological and environmental sustainability. The development of such professionals requires to universities a deep reconfiguration towards the 'entrepreneurial university' model, by integrating research, education and innovation, and promoting public-private partnerships. Framed in these premises, and based on a longitudinal case study carried out within an Italian university, the paper proposes the principles, actors and processes that should characterise a higher education system engaged in experimenting the entrepreneurial university model. A set of guidelines is also provided to educators, professors and practitioners involved into the experimentation of innovative learning environments conducive for the development of entrepreneurial attitudes in engineering and technical profiles

This chapter presents a case study where Problem Based Learning (PBL) ap-proach is applied to a Web-based environment. It first describes the main features behind the PBL for creating Business Engineers able to face the grand technologi-cal challenges of the 2020. Then it introduces a Web Based system supporting the PBL strategy, called the “Virtual eBMS”. This system has been designed and im-plemented at the e-Business Management Section of the Scuola Superiore ISUFI – University of Salento (Italy). Besides the logical and technological description of Virtual eBMS, the chapter presents two applications of the platform in two differ-ent contexts: an academic context (international master) and an entrepreneurial context (awareness workshop with companies and entrepreneurs). The system is illustrated starting from the description of an operational framework for designing curricula PBL based from the author perspective and, then, illustrating a typical scenario of a learner accessing to the curricula. In the description, it is highlighted both the “structured” way and the “unstructured” way to create and follow an en-tire learning path.

Communities of innovation (CoI) was introduced at organisational level to pursue collaboratively innovation activities. By extending this concept at territorial level, they may become government’s tools to undertake innovative projects for local development. This work investigates whether and, if so, to what extent local governments support the development of CoI. We focused our attention on two different institutional settings, one in Italy and one in China. We performed a quantitative and qualitative investigation, relying on official data and web sources. With the first, we developed a measure to synthesise the intensity in promoting CoI; with the second, we highlighted the main programs’ characteristics and objectives supporting CoI. Results show that in both settings, local governments make significant policy efforts in promoting CoI, focusing on similar objectives and relying on similar tools. This highlights the engagement of governments and the relevance of their industrial policies to support the development of CoI.

Advances in communication technologies have enabled organizations to acquire and retain distributed organizational structures by supporting coordination among people working from different locations. Today’s managers need to rely on methodologies and tools to map and continuously monitor the evolution of the hidden relationships within and across organizations. We propose and apply a Social Network Scorecard to monitor how an interdisciplinary and inter-organizational project team – with members from academia and industry – has been able to successfully collaborate to implement a technological platform integrating Knowledge Management, e-Learning, e-Business and Project Management. This platform, called “Virtual eBMS”, represents a collaborative working environment enabling knowledge sharing and learning processes within a higher education institution, the e-Business Management Section (eBMS), a department of Scuola Superiore ISUFI, University of Salento, Italy. We used the team working to design the Virtual eBMS as test bed to test the validity of the scorecard. We observed how this tool could help in monitoring the evolution of an organizational community, recognizing innovative roles and phases and finding structural properties connected to innovative outcomes. Looking at trends at individual, team and (inter-)organizational level, we identified the most innovative phases within the team’s life cycle, using network indicators like density and degree centrality. The Network Scorecard provided feedback on the effectiveness of the team working to create the integrated platform and helped discover the phases in which the team acted in a manner conducive to innovation.We recognized in the Virtual eBMS project team the typical structure of an innovative knowledge network where learning networks and innovation networks co-exist with a more sparse interest network.

This article investigates the impact of cultural and professional diversity of students on engineering education. A study of international post-graduate programs is used to obtain insights with reference to student’s relationships with colleagues, school staff and faculty, student’s cognition about the program and learning process. The article shows how cultural and professional diversity can be addressed by leveraging a strategy based on interdisciplinarity, action learning and open learning environment. Findings are used to envision a model favoring the adoption of a ‘glocal’ approach in the design of engineering programs. The model can be of value for practitioners and educators involved in the creation of multicultural learning initiatives to address the culture-specific needs of students while adhering, at the same time, to the global trends in engineering education.

The paper aims to contribute to the debate about knowledge and digital divide affecting countries’ competitiveness in the knowledge society. A survey based on qualitative and quantitative data collection has been performed to analyze the level of ICTs and e-Business adoption of the Tunisian SMEs. The results shows that to increase the SMEs competitiveness is necessary to invest in all the components of Intellectual capital: human capital (knowledge, skills, and the abilities of people for using the ICTs), structural capital (supportive infrastructure such as buildings, software, processes, patents, and trademarks, proprietary databases) and social capital (relations and collaboration inside and outside the company). At this purpose, the LINCET “Laboratoire d’Innovation Numerique pour la Competitivité de l’Entreprise Tunisienne” project is finally proposed as a coherent proposition to foster the growth of all the components of the Intellectual Capital for the benefits of competitiveness of Tunisian SMEs.

Purpose – To be successful, the innovation and entrepreneurship processes require a systemic and dynamic search, evaluation and matching of purposeful knowledge, expertise and tangible assets. In this vein, the concept of ecosystem has been largely adopted at macro and organizational level to indicate the network of complementary actors needed by one company to succeed in this endeavor. This paper aims to define an individual perspective of innovation ecosystem and propose a model to drive the creation of entrepreneur-centric ecosystems aimed to support a more effective “idea-to-venture” process. Design/methodology/approach – The review of relevant literature and the analysis of international initiatives has been used to identify the main theoretical constituents of the study. A design science approach has been thus adopted to conceptualize and define the components of the model through the phases of problem identification, objectives definition, artifact development, demonstration, evaluation and research communication. The model has been submitted to a preliminary face-validity test with experts in the areas of entrepreneurship and collective intelligence. Originality/value – The paper presents an innovative application of the collective intelligence paradigm to design technology entrepreneurship ecosystems which are: a) context-independent, i.e. virtually global; b) specific, i.e. tailored to given technology domains and individual needs; and c) dynamic, i.e. able to gather relevant knowledge needed for the specific phase of the entrepreneurial process. The collective intelligence perspective allows to capitalize distributed ideas, knowledge, and competencies to take better decisions and actions respect to the case in which decisions and actions are taken by individuals alone. Practical implications – The model can contribute to maximize the incubation, growth and sustainability of entrepreneurial initiatives thanks to a better gathering of critical resources and knowledge which is dispersed in a large network of actors. In particular, the model can support the design and implementation of technology entrepreneurship ecosystems tailored to the real needs of a specific entrepreneur as well as support more effective entrepreneurial processes within corporations and organizations in general.

The most significant forces that are changing the business world and the society behaviors in this beginning of the twenty-first century can be identified into the globalization of the economy, technological evolution and convergence, change of the workers’ expectations, workplace diversity and mobility, and mostly, knowledge and learning as major organizational assets. But which type of ­learning dynamics must be nurtured and pursued within the organizations, today, in order to generate valuable knowledge and its effective applications? After a brief discussion on the main changes observable in management, ICT and society/workplace in the last years, this chapter aims to answer to this question, through the proposition of the “Π-shaped” profile (a new professional archetype for leading change), and through the discussion of the open networked “i-Learning” model (a new framework to “incubate” innovation in learning processes). Actually, the “i” stands for “innovation” (to highlight the nature of the impact on traditional ­learning model), but also it stands for “incubation” (to underline the urgency to have new environments in which incubating new professional profiles). Specifically, the main key characteristics at the basis of the innovation of the learning processes will be ­presented and described, by highlighting the managerial, technological and societal aspects of their nature. A set of operational guidelines will be also ­provided to ­activate and sustain the innovation process, so implementing changes in the strategic dimensions of the model. Finally, the “i-Learning Radar” is presented as an operational tool to design, communicate and control an “i-Learning experience”. This tool is represented by a radar diagram with six strategic dimensions of a ­learning initiative.

Purpose – Universities and research centres play a crucial role in the development and diffusion of scientific knowledge and innovation, which are at the core of their strategic mission. However, the measurement of performance of such institutions in terms of valuable assets created is not easy since their output/results are especially complex to define and evaluate. In such context, this article aims to discuss the importance of identifying proper measures of Intellectual Capital (IC) generation in universities, and particularly in modern universities showing entrepreneurial features. A model for analysis and measurement is presented along with an illustrative application. Design/methodology/approach - Major theoretical approaches and real experiences of measurement of IC in higher education and research settings are analysed to build the integrated framework. Six strategic areas are derived and used to define a dashboard of 62 indicators. A case study approach is used to pilot-apply the dashboard to an education and research institution. Originality/value – Although several methods for IC measurement and management exist, most fail to capture the peculiar links existing among strategic objectives, intangible assets and organizational performance. This article tries to contribute by presenting a discussion and a model which point to establishing a direct relation between the strategic mission of entrepreneurial universities and their performance in terms of IC created. Practical implications – The model proposed can be used as a stakeholder communication tool to report key performance related to human, social and structural capital. Internal functions can be served such as resource identification and capital budgeting whereas an external value stays in the possibility of making public a set of organization-specific information, facilitating evaluation and benchmarking.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are changing the way in which people can access digital knowledge, thus creating new opportunities for learning and competence development. MOOCs leverage the free and open use of digitized material through supportive on-line systems. MOOCs have gained worldwide popularity and many education providers have started to offer courses in different domains such as innovation management and entrepreneurship tackling recent demands for better employability and social inclusion. This paper presents a beneficial application of MOOCs to support the design and delivery of personalized learning paths aimed to develop competencies in the technology entrepreneurship domain. Using a design science approach, a platform for the delivery of open courses has been developed along with a set of experimental courses and learner/instructors guidelines. The platform is based on a roadmap purposefully designed to drive course classification, competence mapping and interactive learning gap/priority analysis. The paper reports a trial set of the system with undergraduate students conducted to draw feedback for iterative system design.

Purpose – Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are contributing to widespread the access to digital knowledge and the development of competencies and skills based on free and open sharing, use and re-use of digitized material available in purposeful on-line systems. Worldwide, the development of MOOCs has gained popularity also in the management and entrepreneurship domain, where a number of providers have started to offer MOOCs addressed to diffuse entrepreneurial competencies and skills. This paper presents an application of MOOCs to support the development of entrepreneurial competencies. A purposeful roadmap has been set up to identify the set of actors and activities involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of an entrepreneurial project. Each activity of the roadmap is defined in terms of inputs, outputs, tasks and enabling competences to be acquired. Based on the roadmap, a customized open platform for MOOC delivery has been thus developed along with a set of experimental courses and some guidelines to better engage learners and instructors. Design/methodology/approach – The article is grounded on behaviourism, constructivism and connectivism learning theories, and their relationship with ICT, in the aim to frame MOOC as an emergent pedagogical approach capable to experiment networked learning. A preliminary analysis of literature on MOOC methodology and approach, as well as on the study of international cases of MOOC adoption in entrepreneurship education has been made. Then, based on a design science approach, a MOOC platform dedicated to stimulate entrepreneurial culture and competencies has been realized, and preliminary feedbacks have been collected from instructors and learners. The six phases of design science approach have been set up, problem identification, definition of research goal, artefact development, demonstration, evaluation and research communication. Originality/value – The value of the article can be identified in three main elements: i) the personalized approach to access MOOCs based on a structured roadmap of the entrepreneurial process; ii) the role that companies can play in the MOOC platform (e.g. course design, content production, course delivery, feedback analysis); iii) the possibility to experiment a blended approach in the use of MOOCs as a tool for competence development in the entrepreneurship domain. Practical implications – The article provides useful insights for the design of effective MOOC-based learning experiences in the technology entrepreneurship domain. In particular, a set of guidelines concerning the role of each actor of the learning process (including companies) and the implementation of effective blended (physical and on-line) experience are provided. Finally, the study presents a practical discussion about how to capitalize the value generated by MOOCs.

On the basis of a synthetic review of the literature about the Living Labs phenomenon, the article investigates to what extent the theoretical approach finds a coherent application in the reality. Focusing on 15 Italian living labs associated to the ENoLL, the study addresses a comparative analysis based on a set of features extracted from the literature. In providing a significant overview of the Italian experience in terms of Living Labs, the study focuses on their implications for the development of entrepreneurial competencies by leveraging on user centrality and public-private networking. Starting from this analysis, the case of VINCENTE Living Lab is presented, by highlighting the technology entrepreneurship dimension that represents the core process for the intelligent growth in the knowledge economy scenarios.

This chapter hypothesizes that Virtual Community of Practices (VCoPs) are valuable to Business Schools and Universities because they support effectively the emerging paradigms of just-in-time, action based and collaborative learning. It presents a case study of a VCoPs called “Virtual eBMS” in Higher Education setting, described as a process-oriented model, composed by four main components: The People participating in the community, the Processes enabling the knowledge flows within the community, the Purpose of the community in terms of value created for the Business School, and the Technology facilitating the interactions between the community members. Indeed, from the technological point of view, the community is supported by an integrated Web Learning and Knowledge Management platform, whose functionalities support the corresponding knowledge processes and actions. Some preliminary results expressed in terms of Intellectual Capital will end the chapter, along with the value created for the community members.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a prototype to extract, collect and visually analyse cultural digital resources using social network analysis empowered with semantic features. An initial experiment involved the collection and visualization of connections between cultural digital resources - and their providers - stored in the platform DiCet (an Italian Living Lab centred on Cultural Heritage and Technology). This step helped to identify the most appropriate relational data model to use for the social network visualization phase. We then run a second experiment using a web application designed to extract relevant data from the platform Europeana.eu. The actors in our two-mode networks are Cultural Heritage Objects (CHOs) shared by institutional and individual providers, such as galleries, museums, individual experts and content aggregators. The links connecting nodes represent the digital resources associated to the CHOs. The application of the prototype offers insights on the most prominent providers, digital resources and cultural objects over time. Through the application of semantic analysis, we were also able to identify the most used words and the related sentiment associated to them.

Blended Learning (BL) is considered a promising pedagogical approach. Some researches demonstrated that students' satisfaction ishigher for BL courses compared to completely online or face-to-face (F2F) courses. Moreover, the explosion of web 2.0 tools and the success of the "read-write Web" are reconfiguring the individual and collaborative blended learning processes. Based on this assumption, this paper investigates the effectiveness of web 2.0 BL for the design and delivery of a pilot course on e-business topics. Two experimentations have been organized involving undergraduates engineering students of the University of Jordan. According to the obtained results assessing students' reaction, learning and behaviour, the BL model proposed in the article revealed more effective than traditional F2F learning. A survey conducted at the end of the course also showed that students were satisfied with the pedagogical approach, and their academic achievements were also significantly improved. Findings demonstrate that successful BL programs require innovative curriculum design strategy based on new principles such as: a) the involvement of heterogeneous stake holders in the course's design phase; b) the focus on competence developmen trather than on knowledge transfer; c) the choice of team work as an additional component to evaluate individual students' performances; d) presence of remote and F2F interactions among peers and between teachers and students; e) the usage of web 2.0 tools as enablers of collaborative learning processes and social networking; f) continuous tutoring both for content and technological issues. These findings can help engineering colleges and universities to design and offer more effective learning courses